The most important ingredient in an authentic Italian pizza is not what you think it is

To most people, pizza is synonymous with the classic pepperoni by-the-slice (New York-style) or the loaded Indian topping-cheese-sauce extravaganza. What if we told you that the original gangster of pizzas—the real OG—was… a Margherita?

The first ever modern-day version of pizza was created in the coastal town of Naples to represent the colours of the Italian flag—green (basil), white (mozzarella) and red (tomato). Legend has it that it was named after the visiting Queen Margherita, in honour of whom it was made. This pared-down, minimal version is what award-winning pizza master, Giulio Adriani, consulting chef at Gustoso (previously Pizza Metro Pizza), calls true Italian pizza.

While he was in town to introduce his newly-curated menu at Gustoso (expect a wide selection of classic and modern Neapolitan dishes), we spoke to chef Adriani about the things that make a pizza authentic. His answers make one thing clear: while there may be just one way to make a true Neapolitan pizza, when it comes to a great tasting pie, there are no rules. Here’s what he had to say:

1. Don’t mess with the flavours“The most important part of any Neapolitan dish is ingredients. Simplicity of ingredients, and making the star of the dish the ingredient itself. If you want have pasta with tomato, it has to taste like tomato.”

2. The most authentic, true Italian pizza is“Margherita. And marinara. If you’ve seen Eat, Pray, Love, part of it is shot in Napoli, and they show this very famous pizza place, Da Michele. They make two thousand pies a day, it has a line of two hours—and they have only two pizzas on the menu: Margherita and marinara. But wherever we go, we accommodate the flavour of the place that we visit, but without transforming what is our philosophy. Would I want chicken on a pizza in my restaurant in NYC, probably not. When I come here and I open a restaurant, I have to say yes. But the chicken I will put on a pizza will never be tandoori chicken, that I cannot do.”

3. Then again, if it tastes good…“I always say, pizza is a good plate, it’s a plate that you eat. So you can theoretically put even chicken tandoori on it. I don’t do because it’s a contradiction to my philosophy, but if it’s well-made and you cook it right, then you can literally put anything on pizza.”

4. The building blocks“There are some basics ingredients [that go into making a pizza] that, unfortunately, it would be better if the whole world produced the same quality. San Marzano tomatoes are one. The soil makes all the difference. In California [farms], they tried to reproduce the flavour, but can never be replicated.

“Flour, of course, is important. It does make a difference, the way it’s processed. In Italy the wheat is not processed. Surprisingly, in India the quality of buffalo is good, so the buffalo mozzarella is pretty good over here. But the tomato and flour we have to import.”

5. But the most important ingredient is“Love; that makes all the difference. If you love your product, it becomes better. We all can buy tomatoes, we can all buy flour, we can all buy mozzarella; we cannot buy love.”

Gustoso’s new Neapolitan menu is now available at their Khar and Kemps Corner outlets in Mumbai